Elastic-propelled toy vehicle



March 11, 1930. M. ALLAND ELASTIC PROPELLED TOY VEHICLE Filad Nov. 50.1928 m' w' m: 6 7

Patented Mar. 11, 1930 UNITED STATES MAURICE ALLAND, or ATLANTIC CITY,NEW JERSEY EnAsTrc-rEorELLEn oY vEHIcLE Application filed November 30,1928. SerialNo. 322,805.

The object of this invention is to provide improvements in toyvehicles,and particularly in that type which is automatically propelled along asurface upon being released afterwinding certain elastic means bymanually propelling it in reverse direction upon said surface a h rAnother object has been to construct a toy of this character in whichthe movement of the toy when released creates a sound which issimilar-to and represents the familiar sound given off by an automobilewhen the muffler iscutout. b

. A further object is to so construct the toy that the propulsion of itwhen released is caused by theunwinding of a rubber band,

or similar element, which at one end is readily attachedto ordisconnected from a relatively fixed portion of the article, while itsopposite endrportion is secured to a hook or other suitablemeans carriedby the driving axle; and from which said band .or the like is readily'disengageable when desired, but which hook forms a normally permanentconnec tionebetween the band and the axle to all intentsand purposes. r

Stillanother object is to provide the driving axle with collarsupon'opposite sides of thehook to prevent the elastic or the like fromentering and entangling with the bearingsof saidaxle, at least one ofsuch collars comprising a toothed gear or ratchet which is engaged by aresilient member secured at its opposite end to the body of the vehicle,so

2 5 that vibrations set up in said member through rotation of saidtoothed collar are communicated to said body and thereby magnified tocreate an easily audible sound.

With these and other objects in mind the t present invention comprisesfurther details of construction and operation which are fully broughtout in the following description when read in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a side 5 elevation of a toyvehicle comprising one embodiment of the invention; Fig. 2 is alongitudinal vertical section of the same; and Fig. 3 is a bottom planview of the same. Referring to the drawings, a. vehicle 1 t isillustrated as representing any Well-known type of automobile, but mayinstead represent any other form of vehicle desired. Being a toy, it ispreferably made in the form of a shell, substantially as shown in Figs.2 and 3, said shell. comprising a top wall 2 which has'an integraloffset 3, representing the bust of a driver, a forward wall 4 andoppositely positioned side walls 5. Rotatably mounted upon the outerside of each of theside walls and the forward-portion thereof is a wheel6, surrounded bylatire 7, in order toprevent these forward wheels fromskidding laterally as the vehicle is propelledrapidly forward over agiven surface. Extending forwardly from the lower portion of the forwardwall 4 is a lug 8, representing the well-known connection provided forattachment of a crank, which in a genuine automobile serves the purposeof manually starting the engine when such is necessary. This lug'maycomprise the head of a screw or pin, the opposite end of which extendsinwardly through the front wall and provides a hook 9 adapted tonormally and detachably receive one looped end portion of a rubber bandor other suitable form of elastic 10 the opposite end of which elasticdetachably engages 'a hook 11, which is secured to andextendslongitudinally of the rear driving shaft12 of the vehicle.

Said driving shaft extends rotatably through thevsidewalls 5 of thevehicle and upon its outer ends supports driving wheels 13, providedwithtires 14 for frictionally engaging a given. surface and insuring thetra-ctive eifortof the drivingwheels with respect to said" surface.

' It has been found through extensive experiments'that as the drivingwheels are, rotated in a reverse direction in any suitablejmanner, asforinstance by manually gripping the vehicle and moving it rearwardlywith the driving wheel tiresin contact with a given surface, the'elastic10 in windingupon the shaft 12 tends to wind toward one end or the otherof said shaftand would enter the journal supports of the same were itnotfor a pair of collars carried by said shaft.

In the present embodiment of the invention these collars 15 and 16 aresecured to the shaft between: the

hook 11 and the vehicle walls 5, one of said collars being a mere flangeor washer, while the other of said collars is notched to provide theequivalent of a ratchet or gear, having peripheral teeth which areyieldingly engaged by the free end portion of..a resilient member 17,the opposite transversely enlarged end portion 18 of which is normallysecured rigidly to the upper wall 2 or any suitable portion of thevehicle body by means of a rivet, bolt, screw, or any other desired formof connection 19.

It has been found that with relatively light toys of this general naturein equi ping them with propelling mechanisms wh ch'tend to cause asudden and ra id rotation of their driving wheels when re eased, it isnecessary to weight them in such manner that a more positive coo rationbetween the driving wheels and t e supportin surface is insured. n thepresent instance t is has been accomaishedby means of a disc 20,referabl'y of ad and secured in any suitab e mannerto the rear ortion ofthe inner surface of the upper we 1 2 of the vehicle. As will be seen Inthe o feratio'n of the device, as previously referred to, the vehiclebody is manually gripped and placed upon and with the drivmg wheel tires14 in contact with a given surface, whereupon the vehicle is moved in adirection which is the o posite t that which it is intended to take whenreleased an subsequently moving under its own power, Asthe vehicle isthus moved manuall the elastic 10 winds upon the drivin she t 12 as faras may be desired, or as far as ma be safe within the limit ofelasticity of sec elastic, after which the vehicle body can be releasedand the tension of such elastic will operate to reversely rotate saiddriving shaft and propel the vehicle along the surface upon which itrests.

M the vehicle is pro lled rapidly forward- I, under the power thecontracting elastic 10, the rapid frictional engagement of the resiliontmember 17 with the notched or toothed collar 16 creates an intermittentsound which is conveyed to the upper wall 2 of the vehicle body whichacts as a sounding board, the hollow interior of the body actlng as aresonance chamber,- and the sound escaping therefrom both from beneaththe end and side walls 4 and and also from the upper surface of the topwall 2. By modifying the shape, size and resiliency of the member 17,the number and shape of the notches on the C01- in it, the method ofattachment of the member 17 to the body wall 2, and by varying thematerial of the vehicle walls themselves, a wide range of audible soundsmay be produced, including among others the wellknown sound created byan automobile when running with the mufiler cut out.

It is also to be noted that by extending the hook 11 parallel with theshaft 12, when the elastic has become fully unwound from said shaft andthe momentum of the vehicle starts to wind said elastic reversely, thereis no danger of the elastic jumping from said hook as was found to bethe case when a book was employed havin a direction other than parallelwith said s aft. It is also to be understood that the fixed end portionof the elastic may be attached to the body of the vehicle in anysuitable manner whatever in addition to the hook 9 as shown.

Furthermore, it has been found that when operating the device u on aninclined surface, it will propel itse f in the manner described eitherupwardly or downwardly of such surface, but whether up or down, when thepower of the elastic is spent, said elastic serves in effect as a brake,and prevents the device from moving downwardly under the force of gravituntil manually so moved O1" raised freel flom said surface.

Having t us described my invention, what I claim and desire to protectby Letters Patent of the United States is A toy vehicle, comprising ahollow shell comprising top, side, and end walls and open at the bottom,a driving shaft journalled through said side walls, a weight secured tosaid vehicle substantially above said shaft, wheels fixed to said shaft,a hook carried by the central portion of said shaft and directly inparallelism therewith, a lug carried by said shell, an elastic extendingbetween said lug and said hook, a toothed collar secured tos'aid shaftbet-ween said hook and one of said journals, and a resilient membersecured at one end to said vehicle and having its free end in engagementwith the teeth of said collar to create a vibratory sound as the shaftrotates under the impulse of said elastic when released after previousrotation of said shaft has caused said elastic to be wound thereupon.

In testimony whereof I have aflix'ed my signature.

MAURICE ALLAND.

